Carlos Emory knew exactly what needed to be done in Thursday’s game against Odessa College that hadn’t been done in Howard College’s last two losses to Midland College and Western Texas College.

Attack, attack and attack some more.

“We knew the key to winning was just getting it to them right away and being more aggressive,” he said. “Get them out of their game. We have guys who know how to play the play. We have coaches who know how to coach. We have players who make big plays.”

A little bit of all that took place in the Hawks’ 52-48 win over the Wranglers Thursday in the Dorothy Garrett Coliseum.
Emory, indeed, did a lot of the attacking, with a game-high 19 points. Howard guard Tramel White’s heroics late in the game staved off an Odessa comeback. The Hawks had an extra player on the bench, too. Jerry Dixon returned from suspension in his first action since the New Mexico Junior College game Jan. 13.

Howard jumped out to an 14-6 lead thanks to scores from Emory, Corey Stern, White and Jermaine Winfield.

Down 25-21, Odessa did its best to hang around, but four free throws from Dixon and a Shavon Coleman score late in the first half ensured Howard a 31-23 lead heading into halftime.

The Hawks were a step ahead in the first half and HC head coach Mark Adams said a lot of the credit can go to Emory, who scored 13 of his 19 points during that time.

“We just rely on Carlos so much for scoring because right now, we’re having trouble on the offensive end, finding a way to get points,” he said. “Carlos can do so many things offensively. He’s got a lot of weapons. He played well.”

Adams said the Hawks controlled the pace of the game, which was key in Thursday’s win and defense played a part, too. The Wranglers’ leading scorer Derrick Barden had four points, scoring two in each half.